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Mayor warns defiant Tamils

They stormed the Gardiner Expressway and screamed for help until their voices were hoarse – and yesterday Tamil protesters said there could be more drastic traffic-stopping demonstrations in the coming days if the Canadian government does not hear their cries.

Tamil protesters block the Gardiner Expressway May 10, 2009, to protest the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

By:Nicole BauteKenyon WallaceSTAFF REPORTERS, Published on Tue May 12 2009

They stormed the Gardiner Expressway and screamed for help until their voices were hoarse – and yesterday Tamil protesters said there could be more drastic traffic-stopping demonstrations in the coming days if the Canadian government does not hear their cries.

"We don't care what happens to us," said Ghormy Theva, 21. She and other young protesters have run out of ideas for "extreme measures," but she said she's willing to risk everything to draw attention to the suffering in Sri Lanka.

Hundreds were reported killed Sunday and Monday in artillery barrages that struck the narrow strip of territory controlled by the Tamil Tigers. A UN spokesperson called it a "bloodbath."

In Toronto, Tamil Canadians called the attacks genocide. Senthan Nada of the Coalition to Stop the War in Sri Lanka said there could be more large protests soon.

"No one wants to cause an inconvenience but ... members of the community have seen their blood relatives massacred and killed in the most inhumane ways," he said.

Yesterday, politicians faced the difficult task of criticizing the protesters for the Gardiner blockade while showing support for the Tamil community, and yet distancing themselves from the Tamil Tigers, labelled as terrorists by Ottawa.

"The protesters were endangering themselves, they were endangering the public, and they were endangering the Toronto police," Mayor David Miller said.

"The Tamil community needs to hear two things from us. First is, occupying roads like the Gardiner isn't acceptable, and the police will prevent you from doing it and will remove you when you do."

Then he took a more sympathetic tone: "The second is that Torontonians understand that there needs to be an end to the hostilities in Sri Lanka and certainly understands the pain people feel."

Premier Dalton McGuinty echoed the mayor's sentiments, saying yesterday there is a "right way and a wrong way to protest."

McGuinty said people have the right to demonstrate on the front lawn of Queen's Park, but not the Gardiner.

But he said he recognized how the violence in Sri Lanka is affecting the local community.

"They are talking about family and friends who are mired in a very difficult circumstance in Sri Lanka."

In a statement, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said his party's officials stepped in to try to end Sunday's protest in the interest of public safety.

"The protest had blocked the highway and put the safety of the protesters and innocent bystanders – including women and small children – at risk," Ignatieff said in the statement.

"Our party has raised, and will continue to raise, the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka in the House of Commons.

"But the Liberal Party of Canada stands firmly against terrorism, and I restate our unequivocal condemnation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."

Ignatieff was asked about the Tamil demonstrations in a meeting with ethnic reporters at Queen's Park last night.

"We made it very clear we do not approve of these demonstrations on public roadways because they're dangerous," he said. Despite speculation Ignatieff was going to talk to Tamil protesters outside Queen's Park, a vehicle whisked him away after the meeting with journalists.

The protesters who flooded the Gardiner Sunday night are demanding international sanctions against the Sri Lankan government until it enters into a ceasefire with Tamil rebels in the country's north.

Sitting under a white tent on the lawn of Queen's Park yesterday morning, Gunam Veerakathipillai, 52, said he has been on a hunger strike for eight days. The Pickering resident said he won't eat anything until he has a written promise from the federal government that it will intervene to end the carnage in his native country.

"I have lost 18 family members to the Sri Lankan armed forces so I can't live a normal life anymore. Nobody seems to care and that is why I'm taking this very hard decision," said Veerakathipillai, lying on a mattress, his voice cracking. "I'm suffering but my suffering is nothing. My people are suffering a hundred times more than this."

On Sunday, about 5,000 grief-stricken Tamil Canadians marched from Queen's Park to the Gardiner around 6:30 p.m. The elderly, children and even toddlers camped out on the highway for up to seven hours, blocking traffic in both directions and shouting, "No more genocide!"Organizers agreed to move from the roadway around midnight only after a representative in Ignatieff's office promised to bring up the demonstrators' cause in Parliament.

In the House of Commons, Liberal MP Rob Oliphant accused the government of failing "to step up to the international plate."

When asked what instructions the government had given to Canada's UN ambassador and high commissioner to aggressively pursue a ceasefire and to ensure international humanitarian presence, federal International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said her government had taken "significant steps."

"We've continually asked for a ceasefire and unhindered access for humanitarian aid," she said.

But such comments did not placate a crowd of about 300 protesters gathered at Queen's Park yesterday chanting slogans of "Stephen Harper don't be silent" and "Canada take immediate action." Another 200 protesters gathered outside the Sri Lankan consulate near Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave.

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